The 15 Km MetLife Madrid Activeone of the popular races marked in red on the calendar, never disappoints. More than 4,500 athletes have participated this Sunday in the eighth edition of the test through the streets of the capital of Spain: the record of participation in the race has been broken, in which they have been crowned Juan Ignacio Martinez Gil y Sara Reglero Marcos as winners of the male and female categories, respectively.
Martínez Gil stopped the clock in 49:29 and Reglero Marcos did it in 54:31, all of this in a race held from Paseo de la Castellana, at Juan Hurtado de Mendoza street, and with a finish line at the Explanada de the National Team, in Madrid Río.
For yet another year the technical director of the race and double marathon world champion, Abel Antonwhich has been accompanied by Oscar HerenciaVice President for Southern Europe and General Manager of MetLife Iberia, and for Nora from Liechtenstein y Fatima Guzmanhonorary president and founding director of the Fundación Educación Activa, respectively.
“Consolidated race on the calendar”
Abel Antón attended to digital freedom at the end of the event, noting that the organization was “lucky to find such a fantastic day as the one we had today in Madrid”, after several very cold days in the Spanish capital. “The 15 km MetLife Activa is a consolidated race on the calendar. Everyone is waiting for it, every year we have more participants, and that means that people really like this race because of its route, because it passes through the heart of Madrid and by the most important monuments of the city”, assures the ex-athlete from Soriano.
On a technical level, Antón points out that it is “a race theoretically easy to run because it’s more downhill than uphill. The runners appreciate it and come to the finish line delighted; the following year they repeat because they love this race”. The technical director of the 15 km MetLife Activa also encourages people to participate in this race as they enjoy a clear advantage, being a intermediate test between the 10 km and the half marathon (21,097 kms).
“From 10 km to the half marathon, there is a very wide difference. This is 15, which is the middle ground, but They are not 15 hard kilometers, but 15 easy, which would be something like running 10 hard kilometers, with which it can cover more people. It is a test that more and more people like; The runner’s word of mouth is important and every year we have more people who come to try it”, he assures in this regard.
Likewise, Abel Antón highlights the good health that athletics currently enjoys, with figures such as Mariano Garcia (European champion of 800 meters), Adrian Ben (recent European 800 indoor champion) and Mohamed Katir, great world star in middle-distance and long-distance races. “We have very important athletes who this year can give us joy at the World Cups in Budapest. A World Cup is something else, it’s not like a European, but we have athletes who have reserved themselves because they want to do well. There are many expectations in tests like the 800 , 1,500 or 5,000”, he points out.
According to the marathon, a test in which he shone worldwide in the 1990s —he was world champion in Athens 1997 and in London 1999—, Antón assures that he is “an unknown quantity”. “There are the Africans, who are always very tough rivals, but if you know how to run these kinds of races you can succeed and achieve success. We have Spanish marathon runners like Daniel Mateo, Ayad Lamdassem, Jorge Blanco or Yago Rojowho are at an impressive level”, assured the Soriano.
More than a ton of bananas
Likewise, as is traditional, the 15Km MetLife Madrid Activa gave room for a second race within the main one, the one disputed by the press team representatives; Europa Press took the victory ahead of RTVE +activa and Runner’s Worldin a test in which ABC, Onda Cero and the newspaper also participated As.
All participants who reached the goal received a medal of finisher courtesy of MetLife in a race that is an example of sustainability, to which the organization’s hybrid vehicles, from Toyota Motor Gamboa, and the Alsa shuttle buses that favor the mobility of runners between the start and finish lines.
The English Court He was in charge of supplying the fruit offered at the end of the race refreshment (1,152 Kg of bananas) and the cloakroom, while the drinks were provided by Coca Cola (15,000 bottles of Water and 6,000 Aquarius). In addition, the runners were able to download the photographs on their mobile phones, taken at the start, finish and some emblematic points of the route, thanks to the collaboration agreement with Pica Technology, through Pixport, their distributor in Spain.
